History Cold War

• The Long Telegram - Stalin believed he was surrounded by capitalist enemies and stated that communism was inherently expansionist.
• A model state was was a nation that could be persuaded and supported to model their economic, social and political institutions on those of the USA.
• Model States were supposed to prevent the spread of communism through increased living standards
• Before 1935, US businesses had located on the Phillipines to exploit production, distribution and exchange of a variety of goods.
• The gap between the rich and poor in the Phillipines led to the growth of an independence movement. IN 1935, the US granted the Phillipines semi independence.
• After semi independence was granted to the Phillipines, an agreement was reached which allowed the US to keep troops in the country
• In 1942, the Phillipines surrendered to Japan.
• Japanese rule of the Phillipines fueled their desire to gain full independence. The Japanese encountered resistance from pro US Filipino guerillas and the Huks.
• After WW2, the USA granted the Phillipines full independence.
• Phillipines Independence was ratified on the 4th July 1946.
• The Philippines became a republic with Manuel Roxas as president.
• Roxas was hated by the Huks as he collaborated with the Japanese.
• The Huks were communist rebels who wanted land reform and an end to corruption.
• The Bell Trade Act of 1946 established trade rights between the Phillipines and the USA
• Markets in the Phillipines were flooded with cheap US imports
• The Huks were annoyed at the inflation and unemployment that camas a result of the Bell Trade Act of 1946
• Roxas also implemented widescale repression against dissidents and the Huks carried out guerilla warfare against the Roxas regime from 1949 to 1951.
• From the point of view of the USA, the creation of the Phillipines as a model state was a great economic and political success.
• Poorer Filipinos were helped by Marshall aid. The USA spent over $620 billion to improve the economic and social infrastructure of the Phillipines.
• Overall, the model states policy in the Philippines could be seen as a genuine attempt to help a poor Asian country get back on its feet after the devastation caused by the second world war.
• Japan surrendered to the USA on the 2nd of September 1945
• Macarthur intended to

  1. Destroy military power
  2. Punish war criminals
  3. Build the structure of representative government
  4. Modernise the constitution
  5. Hold free elections
  6. enfranchise the women
  7. Release political prisoners
  8. Separate church from state
  9. Liberate farmers
  10. Establish free and responsible press
  11. Liberalise education
  12. Decentralise the political power
• Japan shifted from the zaibatsu economic system to a free trade market system.
• The US occupation forces encouraged Japan to become an industrialised nation with a strong economy.
• Many Japanese retained their old customs and the zaibatsu started to reunite.
• By 1952 Japan had become a pivotal part of Truman's Defensive Perimeter Strategy.
• In 1912, the Qing dynasty was overthrown by revolutionaries who proceeded to set up a republican government.
• China fell to communism in 1949 due to the strength of Mao Zedong in contrast to the weakness of Jiang Jieshi and the KMT
• The main strength of the CCP was it's ability to gather mass support from Chinese peasants and sections of the middle class. In 1937, Mao had control of 12 million people. In 1945, this increased to 100 million.
• The reasons for Mao's support:

  CCP's land policy favoured peasants

  The CCP's administrators were seen as being fair and honest

  Communist soldiers were recruited from the peasantry and understood the plight of the poor.
• Mao Zedong and his deputy Zhoi Enlai were intellectually able, dedicated, hardworking and quick to spot KMT weaknesses.
• Communist military commander such as Lin Biao, Chu Teh and Ch-en Yi proved more tactically astute that their KMT counterparts
• The Soviet Unions control over Manchuria from 1945 allowed for increased support to the communists.
• The KMT were weak because:

  They became associated with a party that favoured bankers and landowners

  Industrial working conditions deteriorated under the KMT

  The KMT responded badly to droughts and food shortages in the 1930's.
• Jiang Jieshi did not compare well to Mao Zedong. Jiang Jieshi was more focused on the communists than the Japanese during the war. It was the communists who stopped the Japanese invasion.
• General Stilwell referred to Jiang Jieshi as a "peanut"
• After China fell to communism, the US did not recognise China, refused them a seat on the UN Security Council and instead chose to recognise the regime in Taiwan as legitimate
• NSC - 68 was part of a strategy to deter the spread of communism in Asia and Europe. It was a plan to use the US military to prevent the spread of communism and US military funding tripled and the policy towards Asia changed
• NSC - 68 meant that the US not sought to "roll back" communism in North Korea and later Vietnam instead of just containing it.
• NSC - 68 was agreed to on the 7th April 1950